Brockybear

What if I just plug the Palladiums into the 4 ohm taps and the Khorns on the 8 ohm taps instead of wiring them in series?

I just wondered how they would sound together. The Khorns are just sitting unused now and thought I could do someting with them. I thought running both at once would probably put the wrong load on the amps.

I have a set of Klipschorns and Palladiums and wondered if I can drive both together from the output transformer on my Cary 211 Triode amps? I have 4, 8 and 16 ohm taps on the transformer but dont want to do any damage. Is this ok or a No No?

Both speakers are in the same room

I have owned my P39-F's for a couple of months now and had the time to compare them to my Khorns, which are still in place in the lounge room. Using A - B comparisons the Palladiums are spectacularly better. The bass is the first thing you notice, tighter, defined and deep. The Khorns in comparison have less presence and lack definition. The midrange on the Palladiums is precise, clear with an almost liquid sound that has the accuracy of a horn with the softness of a cone driver, The Tatrix horn can be driven to high volume levels without the harshness you can get from the Khorns. In comparison the midrange on the Khorns always seems to be so dominant, accurate but harsher at higher levels. The bass of the Khorns always seemed to play second fiddle to the midrange. The Palladiums are a harder load to drive compared to the Khorns. I use 70 watt Triode mono blocks that seem to handle the 4 ohm load with out problems I will leave my Khorns connected but doubt I will use them for anything other than a furniture piece in the corners of the room. They served me well but the Palladiums are so much better.

When I compare the KHorns to the P39-f the first thing that becomes clear is the Bass from each speaker. The KHorns bass is more Woolly and less focused than the p39's, especially at lower volumes. The KHorn midrange I found to dominate the music and high frequency reproduction was less sharp. It's like the KHorns dont have the tonal accuracy of the P39's. The P39's are a harder load to drive on my Cary 211's but the sound is much more unified. The bass, midrange and high frequencies are in proportion. The bass has a tight punch to it, you find yourself looking for a sub woofer that isn't there. The Tatrix horn is liquid and smooth without the harshness my KHorns have at higher volume levels. The P39's give the accuracy of electrostatic speakers and the dynamics, volume and soundstage of a truly great horn.

I have Khorns and Palladium P-39F and without a doubt the Palladium walk all over the Khorns for shear musicality. They are a generational improvement on the heritage line and take horn speakers to the next level. Worth every cent

These are the first set to be sold in Australia!

What a great way to spend a Saturday! Took another friend to help unbox them and get them into position but everything done in an hour or so. What can I say? The sound is breathtaking. I always had a problem with my Khorns in this room and had to use a centre channel to fix the hole in the stereo image. The Palladiums have corrected all the problems and allowed me to compensate for the awkward room size. I was never happy with the bass from the Khorns and found the midrange a little bright at times. The Palladiums are just breathtaking, a generational improvement on the Khortns. The bass is precise and the midrange is unlike any horn I have ever heard. Took a while to get these out from the States and delivered to outback Australia but it was work the wait. Without doubt the best speakers I have ever heard.

If that is the case why does the music sound so much clearer?

I have always been sceptical about digital downloads, preferring my analogue and CD collection as the source of my music. It was only recently I had a spare Cary DA converter and a spare Mac with a optical TOSlink. I thought what the heck and downloaded a couple of albums in AIFF and FLAC formats. The recordings were 192Khz 24Bit depth. The quality is nothing short of astounding. The sound from my Khorns is like just so clear and lifelike and the soundstage is wide with clear placement of the instruments. Diana Krall "Quiet Nights" has to be heard to be believed . Elton John "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and Fleetwood Mac "Rumours" is a delight Anyone else heard 192/24 ? Is it the future of Audiophile music?

Have to wait a month but will post full pics when they arrive. I think these may be the first set ever sold in Australia

Finally saved enough to buy a set of these beauties. Managed to pay the same price in Australia as they are in the States so a great deal all round. Only one month to wait until I hook them up to my Cary 211 monoblocks. I have a set of Klipschorns, which I love but the P-39F's will help me get a better stereo image in a room that is not quite ideal for the horns.

Tube amps use output transformers which isolate the speaker from the tubes. The damping factor is low and the bass is a little less defined, perhaps a little muddy? I guess what I am saying is the sound will be different to any solid state amp you will hear. With a solid state amp the damping factor is much better which will give you tighter bass and a different sound to tube amps. I find the sound from a solid state amp harsh and the bass too clinical. Others will love solid state for different reasons. You need to hear both to come to a conclusion. The only thing I could add to this is Klipsch speakers sound better with tube amps in my opinion.

I have been runing a pair of VAF MPBSW19 Transmission Line Subs. Their a bit big but the most musical subs I have ever owned. Frequency responce 19 -180hz and enough power to move furniture around the room. I have them wired up so they match my KHorns when the stereo is on and hooked up to the home theatre running 5 KlipschKL-6502 and four ceiling mounted Klipsch KS-7502 Transmission Line desighns dont seem to be popular with manufacturers yet they give the next best sound to having a folded horn in the room. Does anyone else use them? What are your experiences?

Sent the preamp off today and asked the tech to look at why the bottom end is so weak. Might be something simple.

Firstly thank you to everybody on the forum for your rock solid advice. After changing from 8 ohm to 4 ohm taps and sealing the Khorns with pipe insulation and adding a sub woofer to help with the low volume bass; my tube pre amp decided to play up and I had to change it over for solid state unit I had lying around. Ka BOOM...The KHorns were back to how they should have sounded in the first place. I turned off the sub woofers and put the horns back on the 8 ohm tap. The bottom end was back with abundance. I thought the problem was the Cary CAD211 power amps but it was the Cary SLP05 pre amp all along. The difference was astonishing. Now I need to work out why the SLP05 is bass shy and or look for another preamp

Most of the world runs 240/220vlt except the States and I think Japan. I suspect you have fried the power transformer and rectifiers. Klipsch might be able to supply a replacement mainbord and transformer. If that is possible you could buy a step down transformer 220vl to 120 and then plud the unit in. Could never workm out why the States went with 120vlt

Hi Rod, The final solution was to use my VAF Transmission Line Subs to compensate the bass loss at lower volume levels. The subs work up to 90db and then fade out as the KHorns kick in at the higher volume levels. At 95 db the Cary amps seemed to really kick in and the KHorns took off like a rocket. It was like being at a live concert. Using the 4ohm tap was a real plus; at 100db the KHorns were shaking the room. In hindsight I would have used a different amplifier but I live in outback Australia and Cary amps are $23,000 AU dollars so I cant afford to walk away.

Hi Mike, thanks for the advice. Sorry it took so long to reply but I have been listening to both 8 ohm and 4 ohm taps and you are correct ther 4 ohm gives the boost in bass and settled down the HF section. I agree the horns sound better on the 4 ohm tap. Is this typical of Cary tube gear? I have asked the company to look into running CAD 211's on Khorns, John

I guess the only way to work out what is really going on is too fire up the 1/3 octave spectrum analyser and compare the responce of the KHorns driven by the Cary's verses a Solid State amp. I will also email Cary and see if they have anything to report about the 211's and KHorns

Problem Solved...Thanks Everbody for your input. The problem is the Cary CAD211 monoblocks. I hooked up a Solid State Class A amp and the KHorns just about knocked out of the room. All the bass problems at low volume dissapeared. The Cary 211's are high power tubed amps (150 watt each) designed to run more inefficient speakers. I dont think they match well with the Khorns, unless I am driving the speakers above 90db+ then everything sounds fine.

Thanks everyone for your advice. Yes the Khorns are firmly in the corners. When I pull them away you can two lines running down the walls from the backboard rubbers. I purchased some pipe insulation and made a better seal on the top section of the horns. This did make a difference. I have traced all the wiring and each speaker is in phase. When my partner went out this morning I cranked the Khorns to 95db and the bass was fine in the room. Lower volume levels and the HF section seems to out shout the bottom end. Withn 12 foot ceilings its a big room to fill.I have a SS amp lying around and will hook the KHorns up to see if there is a difference.

I draged my Heresy speakers into the lounge and fired them up. They sounded great and had heaps of bass so I think the room accoustics are less likely to be a factor. I am going to do an inspection of the woofers, if they check out then it must ba a crossover issue.

Hi Oscarsea, I disconected the HF section and checked the woofer were working. Both sound fine but it seems like the HF section is brighter than the woofers. The crossovers are Klipsch AK3 units. I think I have narrowed the problem down to room accoustics and the brightness of the crossovers. Which model ALK units would you recomend?